The Unwalked Path
by neotweeker
Summary: In the coming war between mutants and humans, many mutants have been forced to choose between joining the X-Men or the Brotherhood of Mutants. But what happens when both groups find a mutant who wants no part in anything?
1. Beginnings

**Note: This is my VERY first fanfic, plus my writing skills are a wee bit rusty. I at least hope somebody likes this. Enjoy.**  
  
A lone figure walked the sidewalks in New York City. He stepped through trash and gutter run-off. He didn't care.  
  
A car drove by. Someone in the back seat quickly opened the window and threw an empty beer bottle at him. He didn't care.  
  
The bottle smashed on the pavement in front of him. He carried on, not even bothering to step over the glass. The crunching glass somehow reminded him of something. A memory stirred...  
  
...a fifteen-year-old David Auslander stepped in front of the getaway car that the theives were using. He directed his open palm at the front of the moving car and concentrated. The car was suddenly struck, head-on, by some intangible force. David lowered his hand and smiled at the now arriving police. They didn't point their guns at the theives. They were pointing them at him. He did the only thing he could think of. He ran. As he ran, a person in a pickup truck attempted to run him over. The driver suddenly found that his truck no longer had an engine, nor front wheels...  
  
...and was banished back to the depths of his mind. David no longer cared for memories of the life he had left behind him.  
  
It was late, and David had little money, so he opted sit next to a dumpster and settled into sleep.  
  
. . .  
  
A foot sharply nudged David in the ribs. "Get up, kid." David obliged and gave the three men that surrounded him a blank stare. The closest shrank away from his dark eyes.  
  
One of them spoke. "Gimme yo' mon-" He didn't finish. David had struck him full in the face. One of the others tried to tackle him, and got a face- full of David's boot. The third ran. David calmly kicked the first in the ribs and then proceeded to empty the thugs' wallets.  
  
As he walked off, one of the thugs got up and began to run after him. David whirled and hit him with a wave of energy. More than enough to stop a speeding car.  
  
The thug crumpled beneath the attack and fell dead. David didn't care... 


	2. Encounter

Thunder rolled and rain fell as David took shelter in one of New Yorks many abandoned buildings. He kicked aside the detritus until he found a dry corner to sleep in. As he settled down, he remembered his encounter with three muggers. Though it was two days past, David couldn't stop remembering it. Sleep soon began to claim him and his dreams were troubled. Someone was mockingly calling his name, telling him to get up and join them... Then a voice reached into his confused dreams, "David, lookout!"  
David jerked awake to find that he was boxed in by a group of costumed teenagers. They were looking particularly smug about his current position. He stood up and looked at the one that appeared to believe that he was in charge.  
"What's with the windshield?"  
The "leader" suddenly lost the smug look and replaced it with one of hate. Everything began to rumble and David hazarded a guess that this was angsty boy's power.  
A voice called out, "Avalanche, no!"  
Avalanche and the others stood aside for the newcomer. It turned out to be an apparently normal woman in dress clothes. But as she got closer, she changed. Her skin turned blue, her hair grew longer and was now orange. Her clothes changed to a oddly made white dress. She spoke again.  
"Hello, David. You're very hard to find. I'm Mystique, and these are- "  
"I don't care who they are," David interrupted. "And I don't care about what you want."  
"Oh, really?" Mystique said mischiveously. "Get him."  
"Cocky bitch..." thought David as he wrapped himself in a shield of energy while the mutants edged forward. One leaped at him in the hopes of knocking him over...and hit a hastily erected energy wall.  
"Toad, you idiot," muttered Avalanche. "Blob, tackle him!"  
David let "Blob" rush past his walls and pulled back his fist. Blob, thinking he had David beat, continued to run at him. At the last moment, David uppercutted him, sending the hulking youth reeling. The others stared.  
"It didn't even connect!" complained Toad.  
David brought an open palm to bear on them. "I don't need to." he replied quietly. He turned and blew a hole in the wall, creating an escape route. "Just like I don't need you." He ran into the rain, fading from their sight.  
  
In the Xavier institute, the X-Men crowded about the Professor clamoring about the appearance of a new mutant. Scott Summers and Jean Grey looked disdainfully at the others and sighed. Logan pushed through the small crowd.  
"What's this about?" he asked.  
"A new mutant." replied Xavier. "A new kind of mutant too."  
"What's new about his one?"  
"His powers appear to be similar to Jean's, but it isn't telekinesis. He uses an invisible form of energy for both offense and defense."  
"Cool!" piped Nightcrawler.  
"But, when he covers himself in this energy, he becomes invulnerable. Even mentally."  
The rabble suddenly died down.  
"He also shows signs of extreme apathy," continued Xavier. "And he has already been approached by the Brotherhood. His response tells me that it will be extremely difficult to convince him to join the X-Men.  
"A hard case." Logan commented. "That's just great." 


End file.
